Do Your LMS Research

As you shop for a Learning Management System (LMS) or other learning technology, your first step is to do some LMS research and get comfortable with vendors, features and functionality.

With LMS and other learning platforms constantly evolving and specializing, the learning management system market growth has exploded over the past decade. The global LMS market has seen a lot of innovation in adaptive learning, microlearning, virtual/hybrid learning, ecommerce, online learning, artificial intelligence, integrations and more. Hundreds of vendors specializing in specific use cases have entered the space in the past few years and all claim to be the best LMS. Because of this growth, there’s a lot to know and a corresponding need for in-depth LMS research.

Whether you need to acquire a corporate LMS, upgrade your current LMS to include mobile learning, or find a platform to blend social learning with performance management, the first step in the Learning Management System Buying Process is to research the market. But where do you start? Is a cloud LMS platform right for you? What type of content fits your needs? Talented Learning is here to help!

Talented Learning has a wide range of curated resources such as case studies, on-demand webinars, panel discussions and podcasts to get you up to speed quickly and prepared to develop a world-class business case.

Before you start the process of developing your business case or looking for vendors, it’s important to take a good look around at the LMS market to get oriented, especially with the explosive LMS market growth in recent years. Completing your due diligence to make sure you know exactly what your organization needs and what type of LMS you’re searching for will ensure the system you choose serves you for years to come.

Can you answer these types of questions?

• Are you looking for customer education or is it more important that your LMS focuses on creating an onboarding process?
• What vendor solutions are your competitors using?
• What results are your competitors experiencing and measuring?
• What type of learner experiences do you want?
• What are the new best practices for your use case? Or use cases you haven’t considered?
• What vendors are innovating and why?
• What are the hottest features and learning techniques?

If you can’t answer these questions, you’re not ready to spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on a new learning management system! Don’t worry though, the Talented Learning Center has the world’s largest collection of fiercely independent LMS research to start your journey on the right, educated foot!

You’ll gain a solid understanding of what’s available, what pricing is reasonable, and what your competition is doing in terms of learning systems.

Downsides of not doing LMS research

Don’t be in a hurry to fail! Start your buying process with a solid foundation of knowledge. There are many downsides that can occur if the due diligence of market research isn’t done. Here are just a few:

1. Relying only on vendor websites results in biased information. They’re promoting their own products, so obviously each one will seem great! But is it right for your organization?
2. Similarly, third-party review sites for learning management systems can be repetitive, with every review giving the same accolades. This doesn’t provide you with information about less-common features, or specific integrations that might be beneficial.
3. If you’re new to the process or haven’t purchased an LMS or learning system in a while, the top vendors have changed, and may even be new to you. This could mean you buy an old, boring system when your best LMS goes unrecognized.
4. There’s no LMS market insight into what your competition is doing for their own learning programs, and how your organization stacks up against them. To stay competitive, knowledge (from LMS market research) is power.
5. As we mentioned, the developers of top-tier learning management systems are constantly innovating; knowing what’s available could accelerate the acquisition of your LMS solution.

Why does LMS research pay off?

LMS research doesn’t have to be difficult if you use the curated resources on the Talented Learning Center. There will be time later to examine vendor websites and third-party review sites, but a more macro view of the marketplace now will help you stay focused later.

The best source to learn about vendors, current learning systems and best practices is from the experts and organizations that are successfully working in the industry. Here’s why:

• Understanding how your organization stacks up compared to your competition is critical to getting ahead.
• Educating yourself on best practices will help you avoid common mistakes in the buying process and accelerate the success of your LMS platform deployment.
• Uncovering which vendors enable the practitioner to be successful helps orient you to the best vendor solutions for your organization’s needs.
• Learning what industry practitioners say – good and bad – about the many learning solutions gives you an advantage in the overall buying process.

Talented Learning investigates and studies learning system implementations and aggregates the best client stories from around the world to provide you with comprehensive information. Like we said, we’re here to help!